Roy – Age 72

“It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you’ve got a purpose for getting up in the morning. If you don’t get a particular job you’re keen on, then go for something else. My advice is, keep on trying. There’s no magic answer, just perseverance.”

I have been retired for the last 12 years, I took very early retirement because I wasn’t a great aficionado of work. My hobbies include painting, both house painting and artistic painting. I play the guitar, ukulele, harmonica, all kinds of things to keep myself out of trouble. The last job I did, I worked at a residential home with young adults with learning difficulties. My favourite part of my job was that it was nice to see them attain a certain amount of independence in their lives.

They cultivated skills with a view to living independently. There was a time we all went on holiday, I drove them all up to the Yorkshire moors and we stayed on a working farm and it was fantastic to see the look on their faces. My advice is keep on trying, just keep on trying. There’s no magic answer, it’s just perseverance. If you don’t get one particular job you’re keen on getting then just try for something else. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you’ve got purpose for getting up in the morning.

You can always make a U-turn career wise and get the job you really want later on. My wife got me a birthday present of driving a Ferrari around Goodwood race track and that was amazing, I just didn’t want to get out of that car. It’s quite an experience. You’ve got everything in Brighton, the sea, the South downs, theatres, cinema, pub, restaurants. There’s no need to want for anything. Being over 50, it’s not for cowards.